Guide To Writing Law Essays

There are countless ways to stylistically complete an academic essay. Here are some examples of how students have successfully done so, while maintaining proper academic structure.

Introduction

A proper introduction should:

Introduce main arguments

Have an attention grabbing first sentence

Provide concise information about broader significance of topic

Lead in to the body of the essay

Here are three examples of introduction paragraphs. They have been re-written several times to illustrate the difference between excellent, good and poor answers. For a close reading of the examples, click the images below.

Example 1Example 2Example 3

The Body

The body of your essay should:

Address one idea per paragraph

Support arguments with scholarly references or evidence

Contextualise any case studies or examples

Style

Use correct punctuation and proofread your work

Keep writing impersonal (do not use 'I', 'we', 'me')

Be concise and simple

Be confident ("The evidence suggests..." rather than "this could be because...")

Connect paragraphs so they flow and are logical

Introduce primary and secondary sources appropriately

Avoid using too many quotations or using quotes that are too long

Do not use contractions (you’re, they’d)

Do not use emotive language ("the horrific and extremely sad scene is evidence of...")

This example illustrates how to keep an essay succinct and focused, by taking the time to define the topic:

Defining a topic

The following paragraphs demonstrate how to engage with a variety of scholarly material including primary sources, scholarly theories and formal statistics:

Introducing sources

Lastly, this paragraph illustrates how to engage with opposing arguments and refute them:

Conclusion

A proper conclusion should:

Sum up arguments

Provide relevance to overall topic and unit themes

Not introduce new ideas

Here are two examples of conclusion paragraphs which have been re-written several times to illustrate the difference between excellent, good and poor answers.

Example 1 Example 2

Writing a law school essay requires a fundamental understanding of the structure, context and the art of conveying your argument in an easily digestible body of work. While law essay writing does follow similar mechanics to regular essay writing, there are a few elements that demand more attention.

The following will guide you through what you need to know and understand about writing law school essays.

Titles

The title of your work is incredibly talented. There are some different ways to approach this. Some people like to state the ‘idea’ they wish to convey only.

As you can see, this title is straightforward and addresses what the essay will be touching on. This approach works for those who wish to focus more on the ‘facts’ as opposed to adding ‘flare’ to the content.

For Example. Robert Delaney: “Implementing Law in the Eye of the Storm”: Crisis Law (2014)

As you can see, the difference in approach relies mainly on your audience and the effect you wish to achieve for your first impression. It’s important to note that either one of these methods can work and is indeed up to the paper writer to choose the methodology that best suits your preferences.

Introduction

The introduction of your essay is similarly essential. A Good presentation will provide the premise of the article and address some of the points you’ll be covering. It’s good to mention and possibly italicize the talking points, especially if you’re going to be using them as subtitles.

Furthermore, an excellent introduction will set the tone of the essay. The sound is outstanding as it will inform the reader whether you are arguing for a point or against it. It will help them establish the correct mindset to continue to digest the information you are divulging.

Irrespective, you should always be stating the question or your ‘main premise’ and make it clear to the reader. It applies even if you are reviewing the work of another person. Establish what the reader should expect when reading your work.

Additionally, you’ll also want to include the ‘purpose’ of the essay. It is not enough to simply state your question, but also introduce the “why” you’re asking it. The purpose provides more context which will allow your reader to connect quickly to the content.

The Body

Since you established the talking points in the introduction, the body will be used to expand on those issues. Use each talking point as a subheading and explain each position in detail. It will allow your readers to quickly identify core arguments in favor or opposition of your location. It provides a sense of structure and should flow effortlessly from one idea to another.

To make this happen, you have to create “tie-over” sentences or concepts. What this means is that at the end of the previous paragraph, you’ll set up the idea of the following. You can either relate the two concepts or provide the contrast depending on the points that you are covering.

For Example. Despite the damning statistics presented within the current argument (referencing the idea you are currently discussing), we can also look at the behavioral patterns (bringing in the notion of the next topic) of the market as a whole and how that influenced the egregious results within the concept as a whole.

It allows the reader to make a connection between the arguments while effortlessly introducing the next talking point. It will enable the essay to flow much more comfortable and retain the attention of the reader.

Conclusion

In the final part, you’ll re-introduce your premise and summarize the talking points (especially the ends) to reiterate the facts and refresh the reader’s memory. It is usually the shortest part of the essay as well as you won’t need to convince anyone anymore. You’re merely re-stating the facts and pointing in the direction of the conclusion you wish to achieve.

It is the last possible way you can remind your reader what you set out to do. However, do not worry about the conclusion as much, as this part usually writes itself as you’ll be re-focusing on the previous ideas.

It is a practical approach to writing law school essays, and I hope this helped you structure yourself to be able to write these in the future. If you’re still having trouble in writing your essay, then you could always find a law essay writing service i.e. CustomWritings.com that can pair you up with an expert in the field. Nonetheless, this should have given you enough structure and understanding on how to do this by yourself.

This is a sponsored post.

Have an interesting perspective, news or career advice piece to write about (no academic pieces please)? Share it with us and be read by 1000s of law students.

The Admin

I am the Admin of Lawctopus. I am for law students, of law students and by law students. I am Torts and Contracts and moots and internships. I am your boyfriend! And your girlfriend too! Mentor. Friend. Junior. Senior. I am the footnote in your research paper. Foreword in your life. The jugaad for your internship. The side gig which earns you bucks. I am Maggi. Pocket money too.